FTH Comics Corner: Back To The Future

IDW, just in time to coincide with Back To The Future Day, celebrated on October 21st of this year, has begun releasing a miniseries based on the hit trilogy of films. Bob Gale, writer and producer of the films, lends his talents to creating a series of new short stories, featuring the characters fans have grown to love.

The edict Gale laid out to his collaborators is that the stories are to be more character centric and less focused on the time travel aspect. Writing time travel can be tricky in an already balanced film universe, and Gale did not want to undo, or screw up aspects of the established story. Two of four issues have been released and we have seen moments such as Doc Brown telling his sons in 1885 the story of how he and Marty first met, as well as also getting a look at Doc’s brush with The Manhattan Project, and finding out just how and why his house burned down.

As a huge BTTF fan, I have enjoyed this series so far, getting to see these characters again is like visiting with old friends. The stories have been interesting and add a layer of depth to the tales told in the films, even if they are in the long run unnecessary. The art has been good, nothing groundbreaking, but it fits the light tone established.

If you are a fan of the films, I do recommend getting your hands on these books, as there haven’t been many other ways to get your BTTF fix since the series ended in 1990. Sure, a short-lived Saturday cartoon in the early nineties, and a video game a few years ago, but unlike Star Wars or Star Trek, original content related to Marty and Doc’s adventures is scarce. So go on, get out and get your hands on them before they become as scarce as Marty’s favorite soda, Tab.